Charles major



(No Model.)

. G. MAJOR.4 FIREPROOF AND VENTILATING'FLO0R. l

A 'Patented Mar. 24, 1896.

Mmubmmnawnsnmsmmn c UNITED STATES PATENT CEEICE.

CHARLES MAJOR, OF BRIDGEIVATER, ENGLAND.

FIREPROOF AND VENTILATING FLOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,998, dated March24, 1896. Application filed April 5, 1895. Serial No. 544,564. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES MAJOR, brick and tile manufacturer, asubject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at ThePatent Tile W'orksridgewater, in the county of Somerset, England, haveinvented certain Improvements in and Connected with Fireproof andVentilating Floors, of which the following is a specification.

I will describe my invention with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, Figure l of which represents in vertical section a portion ofa freproof floor constructed with lintels made according to myinvention, the said lintels being directly supported by the metalgirders. Fig. 2 illustrates the mode of placing the lintels in position,and Fig. 2a is an end elevation of two of the lintels placed side byside. Fig. 3 shows another form of lintel, which is directly supportedby the metal girder.

Referring to Figs. l, 2, and 2, A are ordinary metal girders ofI-section, supported at their ends on piers or on the walls of thebuilding, and B are lintels constructed according to my invention bymolding in clay, concrete, or other suitable fire-resistin g material.Each lintel is made of a length to reach from center to center of thelower flanges of two contiguous girders A and is formed at its ends withstepped or undercut projections a to admit of readily placing the saidlintels in position, as hereinafter described. These lintels may be madeof any suitable width (preferably about nine inches) and have formedtherein horizontal openings or passages ZJ, which, when several of thelintels are placed side by side to form a ioor, coincide and formcontinuous passages extending from one end to the opposite end of thefloor in a direction parallel to the girders A, by which the saidlintels are supported. The said passages b may open into the outer' airlat either one or both ends to admit of the passage of cold air forcooling the rooms above and below the floor, or heated air may beintroduced into the said passages for heating the said rooms. On theupper surface of these lintels are formed undercut projections c, whichserve to key the lintel to the concrete cZ, filled in between thegirders, and which covers the whole of the upper sides of the lintelsand the metal girders A to the depth required to complete the floor. Theunder sides of the lintels are also preferably provided with undercutprojections e to hold the plaster coating forming the ceiling to theapartment below the floor.

To admit cold or heated air from the passages b into the apartment abovethe floor, openings f are made through the concrete CZ above thelintels, corresponding openings or perforations g being also formed inthe top of the said passages b in the lintels, thereby forming acommunication between the external air or with heating-dues, as the casemay be, and the apartment above the floor. Similar holes or perforations'L' are also provided in the bottom of one or more of the tubularpassages Z? in the lintels, which are not provided with the openings g,through which perforations 'L' vitiated air from the apartment below thefloor can pass into the passages b and thence into the outer air.

The lintels may be placed in position on the girders A from below byfirst inserting one end, so that the lower ianges 7o of one of thesupporting-girders will enter the deep part Z of the undercut projectiona on the said end of the lintel, as shown in Fig. 2, which Will admit ofthe projection a on the other end of the lintel being raised past thebottom flange on the adjacent supportinggirder A. Then by a longitudinalmovement ofv the lintel in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2 thelintel may be lowered so as to cause the iianges on the two adjacentgirders A to engage in the portions Z2 of the undercut projections a onthe ends of the lintel, as shown in Fig. l, in which position thelintels are securely held by the concrete filling d.

As before mentioned, the lintels are made of a length equal to thedistance from the longitudinal center line of one supportinggirder tothe center line of the adjacent girder, so that when the lintels are inposition they extend under the girders and meet there, so as toefficiently' protect such girders, especially in case of llire.

Instead of having the meeting lines of the lintels immediately under thegirders, they may be at points `between the girders, as in dicated inthe modification Fig. 3. In this case the lintels are in the form ofblocks B2 B2 with the undercut stepped projections Z Z2 in IOO themiddle of the lintels, as will be readily understood. The lintels inthis modification, however, are likewise of it length equal to thedist-ance between the center lines of adjacent girders, and the lintelsextend under and protect the girders, as in the construction shown inFigs. l and 2. I prefer in the construction shown in Fig. 3 to provideon the upper side of each block B2 strengthening projections or ribsv1:2 to key into the concrete d.

I claim as my invention- A iireproof flooring, consisting of flangedgirders in combina-tion with lintels of fire-resisting' material,extending under the girders to protect them, sind of a length equal tothe dista-nee between the center linesl of adjacent girders, the lintelsbeing provided with undercut stepped projections by which they aresupported on the flanges of the girders, substantielly as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my naine to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES MAJOR. lVitnesses:

E. W. CozENs, H. I. MAJOR.

